ILC decries land-grabbing by gov’t officials

The International Land Coalition, ILC, headquartered in Rome, Italy, has expressed indignation over excessive land-grabbing in Cameroon, Africa and the rest of the world.

The ILC bemoans the fact that wealthy elite and top Government officials have systematically been depriving local communities of land that belongs to them as indigenous people.

It is against this backdrop that the National Strategy Engagement on Land Governance, NES, in collaboration with ILC, the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association, MBOSCUDA, COMINSUD and Centre Pour L’Environnement et le Development, CED, organised a two-day capacity-building workshop in Bamenda for members of the Cameroons’ NES platform who can monitor and influence governance policies.

Speaking during at the workshop (March 29-30, 2016) the ILC Country Representative, Musa Ndamba, made a mockery of President Biya’s appeal to the youths to embrace agriculture.

Ndamba wondered aloud how the youths could be involved in agriculture without land; when the rich elite with cattle ranches and farms have grabbed huge parcels of land in Cameroon.

He, however, expressed optimism that very soon, the drafted land rights in Cameroon will enter Parliament for legislation.

Ndamba said NES is an initiative of ILC, which aims at formulating and implementing at the national level, a medium and longterm action plan on land governance.

The NES is working on many aspects including training for lobbying, advocacy, and monitoring tools on land-related issues, with an approach based on partnership and action research. These have been implemented in seven African countries including Cameroon.

“The main objective of NES-Cameroon is to contribute to creating a land regulation that protects the rights to land ownership of vulnerable people such as women, small farmers and indigenous populations; thereby ensuring their socio-economic and cultural wellbeing,” said Ndamba.

According to Ndamba, the aim of the global call to action for land rights of indigenous populations is to mobilise everybody so that they will be aware of the fact that securing land rights for indigenous populations and communities is essential for eradicating hunger and poverty, protecting the environment and fighting against climate change.

He said at the end of the training session, all the 30 civil society organisations and other stakeholders drawn from all over Cameroon will be expected to use the voluntary guidelines for the monitoring of land rights around major projects, including industrial plantations, mining and other projects.

They are equally expected to set up local observatories, develop and test simplified tools involving communities for monitoring and drafting the periodic reports on land governance.

Apart from mastering the legal procedure of the advisory commission at the administrative court, they must also master the decision-making process and use collaborative techniques with public decision matters efficiently.

On behalf of Northwest Governor, the Chief of Cabinet, Aboubakary Haman Tchiotu, said land titles are the only legal means of holding land rights.

In the early 2000s, he went on, less than two percent of the land in Cameroon was registered. In 2005, the Government decentralised and simplified land titling procedures to address certain barriers, thereby streamlining the procedure and decreasing the cost of land titles.

Haman said Cameroon’s development vision 2035 contained in the Government and Employment Strategy Paper places great emphasis on land and the need for an integrated land reform policy.